Life in much of the U.S. is returning to some semblance of normal following the winter COVID-19 wave, but China is ratcheting up its strict mitigation measures to quash its relatively small outbreak. Chinese authorities on Monday began a two-phase lockdown of Shanghai and its 26 million residents, starting with five days of requiring people in the Pudong financial district and surrounding areas to stay home until Friday as mass testing gets underway.
"Panic-buying was reported on Sunday, with supermarket shelves cleared of food, beverages, and household items," The Associated Press reports. "Additional barriers were being erected in neighborhoods Monday, with workers in hazmat suits staffing checkpoints."
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